“If you chase two rabbits, you will catch none.” Wise words, right? But do they always apply, especially in the crazy world of college football coaching? The 2025 season is shaping up to be a wild ride, and the coaches are feeling the pressure big time. Big changes are happening everywhere, and one guy facing a mountain of responsibility is Oklahoma’s Brent Venables. He’s going against the grain, adding play-calling duties to his already overflowing plate.

Now, some folks might raise an eyebrow, remembering how Florida’s Billy Napier tried the whole head coach/offensive coordinator double-duty thing and caught some flak for it. But Venables? He’s getting a pass so far. Now all thanks to the former Ohio State defensive coordinator for putting the Sooners HC in such a position. 

A statement of confidence for Brent Venables 

Now head coaching and playcalling often turn out to be too much burden. However, certain coaches like doing it. For example, the Gators HC Napier. Even though there have been indications that Florida could make a significant change to its offensive structure, Napier refused to give that role to anybody else. The program shares scheming and game-planning duties between a few coaches. But in 2024, he confirmed he will call plays again in 2025. Looks like the Oklahoma HC will be walking on Napier’s path.  

On January 31, Venables released a statement where he claimed, “I have reflected on all facets of our program over the past several weeks. Since I was hired as head coach, we have carefully assembled the defensive personnel and scheme that is suited to compete at the highest level…To that end, I will take over defensive play-calling responsibilities for the 2025 season.” Someone had to take up the responsibility after Zac Alley left for West Virginia. While fans might be still in a dilemma, Venables got a clean chit from sports analyst RJ Young.

On his podcast, Young claimed, “I have no doubts about that large reason… Brent Venables is going to do the one thing that we all want Brent Venables to do when in Oklahoma. Call the d- -n defense.”

After all, according to Young, this has been Venables’ “superpower” that helped him to bring home two national championship titles at Clemson. What’s alarming is the fact that the Tigers have not won any titles since Venables’ departure. Meanwhile, a tough road lies ahead of the Sooners.

They have another difficult schedule in 2025 as they will be hosting Michigan in week 2. Plus six of the team’s eight SEC games are against teams that finished last season in the AP Top 25. Will Venables be able to bear the heat? 

Definitely! As Young refreshed the memory, “Bren Venables took his defense and had two national championships at Clemson, which means he’s got three, but he needs to get one as a head coach at Oklahoma. Because well, that’s what he was brought in here to do.” However, the Oklamoha HC had to take up the role after a big snub. 

Is Jim Knowles’s Oklahoma snub a blessing in disguise for Brent Venables?  

Maybe this has been Venables’ last option. After all, the Sooners did put in a lot of effort in pursuing former Buckeyes’ defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. So much so that they were willing to land Ryan Day’s top assistant by hook or crook. That’s when they came up with a big money deal.

As analysts, Zach Barnett and John Brice reported, “Oklahoma has maintained quiet confidence about its chances to hire the architect of the nation’s top total, yards per play, and scoring defense. Industry sources told… Sooners are prepared to offer up to $3 million a year.”

But was Venables successful in his poaching antics? Sadly not. As reported, “Penn State has offered Knowles a package totaling $3.2 million a year. Notre Dame has shown interest after losing Al Golden to the NFL.” This fear turned out to be true. 

The man who led the Buckeyes defense, allowing only 254.6 yards per game and placing Ohio State in first place in scoring defense, decided not to go for Oklahoma. Instead, Jim Knowles notified PSU coach James Franklin that he’ll accept the offer, which is said to be “well over” $3 million. While he is on his way to becoming the highest-paid defensive coordinator in college football history, at least Oklahoma fans are happy. After all, their HC Brent Venables will find himself in familiar water.

Also, Venables just beefed up his defensive staff with two key hires: Nate Dreiling as inside linebackers coach and Wes Goodwin as assistant/outside linebackers coach. And get this: with Venables, Dreiling, Goodwin, and Brandon Hall all having defensive coordinator experience, plus Todd Bates and Jay Valai currently serving as co-defensive coordinators, the Sooners are stacking their defense with brainpower. So it’s a far cry from the Billy Napier situation at Florida.